Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-04-13

WN W. Saant bad saPtssssd a1 tssir sb;'. "a
PEGGY MoFFAT. ity to support a
family; others had felt perhaps too keenlT
the deep responsibility resting upon them
when chosen from the panel as jurors, and
had evaded their public duties; few had de-
clined Office and low salary; but no one
shrank from the possibility of having been
called upon to assume tho functions of Peggy
Moffat, the heiress.
The will was contested-frst by the widow,
whom it now appeared had never been le-
gally divorced from the deceased; next by
four of his cousins, who awoke, only too late,
to consciousness of his moral and pecuniary
worth. But the humble legatee-a singularly
plain, unpretending, uneducated western
girl-exhibited q dogged pertinacity in
claiming her rights. She rejected all compro-
misses. A rough sense of justice in the COM
munity, while doubling her ability to take
care Of the whole fortune, suggested that she
ought to be content with SS00,O00. "She's
bound to throw even that away on some
derned skunk Of a man, natoorally; but
three millions is too much to give a
chap for maxim her unhappy. It's offerin'
a temptation to cussedness" The only
opposing voice to this counsel came from
the sardonic lips Of MI. Jack Hamlin. 3Sup-
pose," suggested that gentleman, turning
abruptly on the speaker-"suppose, when
you won $4,000 Of me last Friday
night suppose that instead Of handing
you over the money as did-suppose I'd got
up OH my hind legs, and said, Look yer, Bill
Wethersbee, you're id fool If give
ye that twenty thousand, you'll throw 1t
away in tho first skin game in Frisco, and
hand it over to the first short card sharp you'll
meet. There's a thousand enough for you
to fling away,-take it and getp Suppose
What I'd said to you was the frozen truth,
and you know'd it, would that have been the
square thing to play on youl" But here
fsWethcrsbee quickly pointed out the inefR-
cheney of the comparison by stating that he
had won the money fairly with stake @And
hcv do you know" demanded Hamlin saw
agely, bending his black eyes on the aston
ished casuist-"how do yoI know that the gal
heznt put down a stalker The man stam-
mered an unintelligible reply. The gambler
laid his white hand on Wethersbees shoulder.
"Look here, old man." he said, "every gal
stakes her whole pile-you can bet your life
on that-whatever's her little game. II she
took to keerds instead of her feelings, If she'd
put up chips instead O body and soul, she'd
bust every bank 'twixt this and Friscol You
hear me7'
Somewhat of this idea was conveyed, I fear
not quite as sentimentally, to Peggy Moffat
herself. The best legal wisdom of San Fran
cisco, retained by the widow and relatives, took
occasion, in private interview with Peggy,
to point out that she stood in the quasi-crimi-
nal attitude of having unlawfully practiced
upon the affections of an insane elderly gentle
man, with view Of getting possession Of his
property, and suggested to her that no vestige
Of her moral character would remain after
the trial, il she persisted in forcing her claims
to that issue. 1t is said that Peggy, on hear
ing this, stopped washing the plate she bad In
her hands, and, twisting the towel around her
fingers, fixed her small pale blue eyes at the
lawyer.
aAnd ez that the kind O. chirpin these crit
ters keep upl"
u regret To say. my dear young lady," 70.
sponded the lawyer, "that the world is cen.
serious. must add" he continued, with en-.
gaging frankness, "that we professional law
yers are apt to study the opinion Of the
world, and that such will be the theory Of
our side."
"Then," said Peggy stoutly, 'ez I allow
I've got to go into court to defend my char
acter, might as well pack in them three mil
lions too."
There is hearsay evidence that Peg added
to this speech wish and desire to "bust the
crust" of her traducers, and, remarking that
"that was the kind OF hairpin" she was,
closed the conversation with an unfortunate
accident to the plate that left severe contu-
sion on the legal brow Of her companion.
But this story, popular in the barrooms and
gulches, lacked confirmation in higher circles.
Better authenticated was tho legend related
of an interview with her own lawyer. That
gentleman had pointed out to her the advan-
tage OF being able to show some reasonable
cause for the singular generosity Of the tes-
tator.
"AIthough," he continued, "the law does
not 20 back of the will for reason or cause for
its provisions, it would be strong point with
the judge and jury-particularly if the
theory Of insanity were set up-for US to
show that the act was logical and natural.
OF course you have-I speak confidently,
Miss Moffat-certain ideas of your own why
the late Mr.. Byways was so singularly gen.
erous to you"
"No, 1 haven't" said Peg decidedly.
"Thnk again. Had lie not expressed to
you-you understand that this is confidential
between US, although 1protest, my dear young
lady, that see no reason why it should not
be made public-had he not given utterance
to sentiments of q nature consistent with
some future matrimonial relations" But
here Miss Pegs large mouth, which had been
slowly relaxing over her irregular teeth,
stopped him.
"If you mean he wanted to marry NE
No."
II sec. But were there any conditions-of
course you know the law takes no cogpizanee
of any not expressed in the will; but still, for
the sake of mere corroboration of the be-
quest-do you know Of any conditions on
which be gave you the propertys"
aYou mean did be want anything in re-
turn!"
Exactly, my dear young lady,"
Pegs faco on one side turned deep ma
genta color, on the other q lighter cherry,
while her nose was purple and her
forehead an Indian red. To add to the effect
of this awkward and discomposing dramatic
exhibition Of embarrassment, she began 10
wipe her hands on her dress, and sat silent.
II understand" said the lawyer hastily.
"No matter-the conditions were fulfilled"
"No~ said Peg amazcdly. "How could